The present disclosure relates to wagering games, gaming machines, networked gaming systems and methods, and in particular to wagering games, gaming machines, networked gaming systems and methods having progressive jackpot games.
Electronic gaming machines (“EGMs”) offer a variety of games such as slot games, video poker games, roulette games, keno games, and other types of wagering games that are commonly deployed at a casino or gaming facility for use by players. Typically, a player using an EGM is required to place one or more wagers on the outcome of the game. The EGMs may be programmed with a predefined set of outcomes including one or more winning outcomes and one or more losing outcomes. Customarily, players are awarded one or more prizes, awards, or jackpots for a winning outcome in the game, and receive no such awards for a losing outcome. Thus, these various types of EGMs allow players to wager on and play a variety of games of chance, in hopes of winning one or more awards, while experiencing entertaining and amusing gameplay on the gaming machine.
Game designers, manufacturers, and operators continually strive to find new and appealing features and game functionality that will generate and increase player excitement and interest in the games played on such EGMs. Primary awards in EGMs typically comprise defined award payouts for resulting winning outcomes, which are often presented to players in the form of a pay table, or payout table, listing winning outcomes or combinations, along with their associated awards. In addition to primary awards, EGMs may include a variety of special awards, such as bonus games, bonus features, multipliers, and jackpots, which have evolved to capture and maintain player interest and enjoyment.
One such special award which has increased in popularity is a progressive jackpot award or game, which may be funded by an EGM which contributes a portion of the wagers received at such EGM towards funding the progressive jackpot award. In this way, the progressive jackpot award grows over time until it is awarded to a wining player. Alternatively, a gaming system may include a collection of EGMs each of which contributes a portion of the wagers received at such EGMs towards funding the progressive jackpot award. By utilizing a system of networked gaming machines, such systems can be configured in a variety of ways. For example, a large number of EGMs may be configured to participate in a progressive jackpot, thereby making the size of the progressive jackpot award higher than if the progressive jackpot were funded only by a single EGM. Therefore, networks of EGMs may include a plurality of gaming machines in a single facility or location (referred to as Local Area Progressives), or may include gaming machines networked together across multiple physical facilities, locations and geographic jurisdictions (referred to as Wide Area Progressives).
Gaming systems and EGMs having progressive jackpot awards may be configured to have a smaller probability of being won by a player, thereby allowing the sizes of the awards of such progressive jackpots to be much larger. In other configurations, the likelihood of winning a progressive jackpot may be increased, which often causes the sizes of such awards to be smaller, but provides players the entertainment of more frequency progressive jackpot awards. In some configurations, after a progressive jackpot is won by a player, and a corresponding award is paid, a progressive jackpot award may be reset to a predetermined reset value or amount (e.g. $1,000). However, players who learn or become aware of the reset value of the EGM may misperceive that when a progressive jackpot is at or near such a reset value, that the players' chances of winning the progressive jackpot are reduced or diminished. Therefore, if a player observes the current value of a progressive jackpot meter to be near the reset value, he or she may be less likely to play the associated progressive jackpot wagering game, or the EGMs in the gaming system including the progressive jackpot. Additionally, players who observe the rate of increase or accumulation of a progressive jackpot award may be more motivated to play the EGM, due to the added anticipation and excitement of perceiving that the jackpot will soon be awarded.
While gaming machines including progressive jackpot games have been successful, there remains a need for progressive jackpot games that provide players with enhanced excitement throughout gameplay. The present invention offers solutions to these and other problems associated with progressive jackpot games.